Hookah with a purge valve and stem tube configured to purge out stale smoke

ABSTRACT

A hookah with a hookah body that is hollow and having a smoke chamber therewithin. A stem tube is inserted into the hookah body and extends through the smoke chamber. A hose is connected to the bottom end of the hookah body and a purge valve is attached to the top end of the hookah body. The purge valve allows stale smoke from the smoke chamber to be pushed outside without pushing out fresh smoke or leaving behind stale smoke within the smoke chamber. The unique location of the purge valve relative to the hose connection allows the stale smoke to be effectively purged out.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to a field of smoking devices known as hookahs otherwise known as water pipes or nargiles. More specifically, the invention relates to a hookah comprising a hookah body that is hollow in construction and that forms a smoke chamber therewithin. A stem tube is extended through said smoke chamber in said hookah body and has a bowl attached at the top while the bottom is immersed in water. A purge valve is attached to the upper portion of said hookah body while a hose is attached to the lower portion of said hookah body. The configuration of the present invention allows the stale tobacco smoke that accumulates within the smoke chamber to be properly purged out of the hookah through the purge valve.

2. Description of the Prior Art

A hookah is a smoking apparatus or a water pipe that has been used for centuries to smoke tobacco, mixtures of various herbs, or mixtures of both. The general concept of a hookah has been in existence for centuries with original popularity tracing back to Turkey around the years 1623-1640 where they became an important part of coffee shop culture and the preferred way of smoking tobacco. Generally, a hookah directs the smoke generated from the tobacco or herbs through water for cooling and filtration purposes. Undesirable smoke byproducts such as tar, oil, ashes, carbon monoxide, and the like are absorbed or separated in the water before the smoke is inhaled by the user.

Typically a hookah has a single tobacco bowl mounted at the top and a container at the bottom. The container is filled with water and a tubular hollow stem extends downward from the bowl into the container with its lowermost extremity immersed in the water. The body of the hookah is located directly above the container and has the hollow stem tube extend through it. A flexible hose is then connected to and extends outward from the body of the hookah. Finally, a mouthpiece is attached at the distal end of the flexible hose through which the user can inhale the smoke.

Tobacco or herb is placed on the bowl. The bowl is then covered typically with a piece of foil paper having multiple holes. A piece of hot charcoal is then placed on top of the foil paper to heat the tobacco or herb within the bowl without making direct contact with the tobacco or herb. Direct contact between the hot charcoal and the tobacco or herb can lead to burning rather than heating, or smoking. As the tobacco or herb is heated, it generates smoke. When the user inhales through the mouthpiece attached to the flexible hose, the smoke is drawn from the bowl through the stem tube and into the water. The smoke then passes upwards through the water in the form of bubbles. When sufficient smoke is collected above the water, it passes through the flexible hose to the user for inhalation. As the smoke is drawn through the water, it is filtered and cooled to make the smoking experience pleasant and enjoyable for the user.

The primary mechanism of a hookah is the inhalation of the human smoker from the mouthpiece to create the vacuum or negative pressure required to draw smoke through the filtering and cooling water. The vacuum or negative pressure in turn influences the combustion rate of the tobacco or herb. The flavors of the smoke from the tobacco can be influenced by the combustion rate.

Unlike smoke from hookah, smoke from cigarettes is filled with products of combustion, many of which are known carcinogens. Furthermore, smoking a hookah is preferred over smoking cigarettes or cigars because of the flavorful and cool taste of the smoke. Typical tobacco used with a hookah includes a mixture of shredded tobacco leaf mixed with a sweetener such as honey, molasses, or semi-dried fruit.

However, smoking tobacco from a hookah poses a challenge with stale smoke. After a hookah is not smoked for an extended period of time, smoke from the tobacco accumulates within the hookah and becomes stale or loses some of its flavor. Thus, before resuming the use of the hookah, it is preferred that the stale smoke is purged out.

The stale smoke within a hookah is typically purged out by the user blowing rather than in through the hose. The air injected through the hose then pushes the stale smoke within the hookah out through a purge valve. The problem with purging stale smoke from a prior art hookah is that the purge valve, is located at the same height and directly across the hose. Thus, air blown in through the hose tends to skim the top layer of the stale tobacco plume and quickly exit through the purge valve. Such configuration is ineffective at purging out a substantial amount of the stale smoke.

What is needed to overcome the various disadvantages evident in the prior art is a hookah that can be effectively purged out of any stale smoke therewithin. Secondly, the hookah must be easy to assemble, clean, and use. Such a hookah would combine the advantages of the prior art while eliminating their various respective disadvantages. As will be seen, this improved hookah achieves these objectives and advantages with a minimum of functioning parts in a novel, nonobvious, and useful combination.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above mentioned disadvantages occurring in the prior art, and it is the object of the present invention to provide a hookah capable of allowing the user to effectively and easily purge out the stale smoke that accumulates therewithin.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a hookah that can be completely disassembled for proper cleaning and assembled for ease of use.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a hookah with a stem tube that can be physically separated from the hookah body.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a hookah that has a hollow hookah body that defines a smoke chamber therewith in and having a purge valve that facilitates the purging of stale smoke inside the hookah body.

To accomplish the above objects, the present invention is embodied in a hookah comprising a bowl attached to a stem tube that extends through a smoke chamber that is within the hookah body that sits on top of a base containing some water into which the lowermost extremity of said stem tube is immersed. Additionally, a purge valve is attached to the hookah such that it is in communication with said smoke chamber. Finally, a hose is also attached to the hookah such that it is in communication with said smoke chamber but at a lower height level than said purge valve to allow for proper and effective purging of stale smoke within the smoke chamber.

The above and other features and advantages of the present invention, as well as the structure and operation of various embodiments of the present invention, are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein and form part of the specification, illustrate various embodiments of the present invention and, together with the description, further serve to explain the principles of the invention and to enable a person skilled in the pertinent art to make and use the invention. In the drawings, like reference numbers indicate identical or functional similar elements. A more complete appreciation of the invention and many of the attendant advantages thereof will be really obtained as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of the hookah according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 shows a sectional view of a hookah according to the present invention;

FIG. 3 shows an exploded view of a hookah according to the present invention;

FIG. 4 shows the prior art hookah as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,573,229.

FIG. 5 shows the prior art hookah as disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/653,374.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Reference will not be made to the drawings in which various elements of the present invention will be given numerical designations and in which the invention will be discussed so as to enable one skilled in the art to make and use the invention.

As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the present invention is a hookah 100 designed and engineered with a bowl 110 attached to a stem tube 20 that extends through a smoke chamber 30 that is within the hookah body 40 that sits on top of a base 50 containing some water 60 into which the bottom end 21 of said stem tube 20 is immersed. Additionally, a purge valve 70 is attached to the hookah 100 such that it is in communication with said smoke chamber 30. Finally, a hose 80 is also attached to the hookah 100 such that it is in communication with said smoke chamber 30 but at a lower height level than said purge valve 70.

FIG. 4 shows the sectional view of a prior art hookah 200. FIG. 4 was first disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,573,229. As shown in FIG. 4, the prior art hookah comprises a stem tube 210 that extends through the hookah body 220 that is solid in construction and into the water 230 inside a base 240. A hose 250 then attaches to said hookah body 220 and is in communication with the base 240 through a passage 245. Alternatively, FIG. 5 shows the sectional view of another prior art hookah 300 as shown in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/653,374. In this configuration, a stem tube 310 also extends through the hookah body 320 that is solid in construction. A hose 350 attaches to said hookah body 320 and is in communication with the base 340 through a smoke chamber 345. Furthermore, a purge valve 350 is attached to the hookah body 320 and in communication with said base 340 through said smoke chamber 345. Said purge valve 350 can also be attached to the prior art hookah 200 in FIG. 4. In both prior art hookahs, the attachment of said purge valve 350 is located at relatively the same height in the hookah body 220 and 320 as the attachment of said hose 250 and 350.

The purge valve 70 and 350 in the prior art hookahs, as in the present invention, is a single directional flow valve. Meaning that said purge valve 70 and 350 allows smoke to flow in only one direction, from side the hookah towards outside. Typically the user of a hookah inhales through the hose to inhale the smoke from the tobacco being burned on the bowl. However, periodically, after the hookah has sat idle without the user smoking from it for an extended period of time, the smoke in the hookah becomes stale and loses some of its flavor. Thus, before inhaling from the hose, the user first blows into the hose such that the stale smoke is pushed out through the purge valve. This process of purging out the stale smoke from the hookah is improved by the novel and nonobvious configuration of the present invention.

The prior art hookahs have a purge valve at relatively the same height level as the hose connection. Thus, purging results in pushing only the top layers of the stale smoke out through the purge valve. The bottom layers of the stale smoke remain in the hookah unpurged because the air blown in through the hose is forced to exit through the purge valve that is in close proximity to the hose connection. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the hookah 100 of the present invention comprises a purge valve 70 that is at a higher level than the hose connection 85. In addition, the hookah body 40 in the present invention is hollow rather than solid as in the prior art hookahs. The hollowness of the hookah body 40 forms the smoke chamber 30 into which smoke dissipates after it bubbles out of the water 60 in the base 50. Thus, the smoke chamber 30 extends from the base 50 up to the top portion of the hookah body 40.

Accordingly, the stale smoke in the hookah 100 of the present invention will remain within the base 50 and within the smoke chamber 30 that extends throughout the interior of the hookah body 40. The hose connection 85 is located in the bottom portion of the hookah body 40 while the purge valve 70 is located in the top portion of the hookah body 40. Additionally, the hookah 100 of the present invention is properly sealed so as to prevent any leakage of air or smoke. Therefore, as the user blows air through the hose 80, the air enters the smoke chamber 30 through the hose connection 85. Thus, the pressure in the smoke chamber 30 is raised such that the stale smoke in the smoke chamber 30 is pushed upward until it is purged out through the purge valve 70. In essence, the stale smoke in the smoke chamber 30 is replaced by air blown in by the user but the base 50 is still filled with stale smoke. However, the density of the stale smoke in the base 50 causes it to diffuse or migrate upward into the smoke chamber 30 while the air is pushed downward into the base 50. Then, the user blows air through the hose 80 a second time to purge the remaining stale smoke out through said purge valve 70. The preferred embodiment of the present invention is such that the volume of the smoke chamber 30 is substantially equal to the volume of the base 50 above the water 60 and into which smoke is diffused. Therefore, after the user blows air through the hose 80 a second time, the hookah 100 of the present invention is void of stale smoke and ready for the user to inhale a fresh batch of tobacco smoke.

In addition, the stem tube 20 of the present invention has a hollow interior and extends from the bowl 10 down through the smoke chamber 30 and into the water 60 in the base 50. Thus, the fresh tobacco smoke defusing from the bowl 10 into the stem tithe 20 is not mixed with the smoke in the smoke chamber 30 without first being filtered by the water 60. This is unlike the prior art hookah 300 of FIG. 5 as shown in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/653,374. In the prior art hookah 300, the tobacco smoke from the bowl defuses down through the stem tube 310 and into the smoke chamber 345 prior to its filtration in the water. In essence, the prior art hookah 300 allows for the mixture of fresh tobacco smoke with stale tobacco smoke. The configuration of the hookah. 100 of the present invention allows the fresh tobacco smoke to be separated from the stale smoke. In fact, blowing air through the hose 350 in the prior art hookah 300 can purge out stale smoke and fresh smoke both of which are mixed within the smoke chamber 345. On the other hand, blowing air through the hose 80 of the hookah 100 of the present invention purges only the stale smoke in the smoke chamber 30 without purging out fresh smoke within the stem tube 20.

Hereinafter, an explanation of the methods of assembling the hookah 100 of the present invention, the operating states thereof, and the usage thereof will be given.

As shown in FIG. 3, the main components of the hookah 100 of the present invention include a base 50, a hookah body 40, a stem tube 20, a hose 80, a bowl 10, and a purge valve 70 The hookah body 40 is attached to the top of the base 50 and the hose 80 and the purge valve 70 are attached to the hookah body 40. Then the stem tube 20 is inserted into the hookah body 40 from the top end thereof until the lowermost end of the stem tube 20 is within the base. Then, the bowl 10 is attached to the topmost end of the stein tube 20. Finally, water 60 is added to the base 50 until the lowermost end of the stem tube 20 is immersed in water 60 and tobacco is placed on the bowl 10 underneath a heated charcoal that is used to heat and smoke the tobacco.

Unlike the prior art hookahs 200 and 300, the stein tube 20 is not incorporated into the construction of the hookah body 40. Instead, the stem tube 20 is a separate part and can be removed or separated entirely from the hookah body 40 Secondly, unlike the prior art hookahs 200 and 300, the hookah body is not solid rather hollow in construction whereby the hollowness creates a smoke chamber 30 within the hookah body 40. Thirdly, unlike the prior art hookahs 200 and 300, the purge valve 70 is located higher than the hose connection 85.

The hookah 100 of the present invention is properly sealed so as to prevent any air leaks. Thus, as the user inhales through the hose 80, the smoke from the tobacco heated in the bowl 10 is pulled down through the stem tube 20 into the water 60 in the base 50. Then the smoke bubbles out of the water 60 and into the smoke chamber 30 from which it is drawn out through the hose 80 and into the user's mouth for inhalation. As discussed above, the configuration of the hookah 100 of the present invention facilitates the purging of stale smoke within the smoke chamber 30.

It is understood that the described embodiments of the invention are illustrative only, and that modifications thereof may occur to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, this invention is not to be regarded as limited to the embodiments disclosed, but to be limited only as defined by the appended claims herein. 

What is claimed:
 1. A hookah comprising: a hookah body that is hollow and having a smoke chamber inside; a base onto which said hookah body is attached and into which water is added; a stem tube that is attached to said hookah body and having a bottom end so that said stem tube extends through said smoke chamber until said bottom end is immersed in the water within said base; a bowl that is attached to said stem tube and onto which tobacco is placed; a hose that is in communication with said smoke chamber through a hose connection; a purge valve that is in communication with said smoke chamber and is located above said hose connection; and whereby said purge valve allows the flow of smoke out of said smoke chamber and blocks the flow of air into said smoke chamber.
 2. Said hookah of claim 1 whereby said smoke chamber can retain a greater volume of smoke than said base can retain above said water.
 3. Said hookah of claim 1 whereby said stem tube can be physically removed from said hookah body. 